Kindness

 How fortunate for me to have chosen that particular restaurant at that particular time. I sat down in a booth to eat lunch and picked up the bread on plate my when I noticed two people across the room chatting.  I was trying to determine if it was a planned lunch for them or two people that just happened to engage in a conversation. I'll tell you why that determination was a question for me. One was a young black man and the other an elderly Caucasian woman. When I first saw them they were sitting at different tables which were next to each other. maybe two feet apart. Both of them had their back to the wall with their heads turned toward the other. The conversation between them seemed truly genuine, as if they had been friends for quite awhile. I ate my sandwich while I watched them talk, smile, and occasionally laugh.  Their physical positioning  gradually changed from having their backs against the wall to turning their upper body toward the other person. They continued to talk and had slightly leaned toward each other.  I wondered what the conversation between the two consisted of? Two very different generations, genders and races had found a common interest and a sincere desire to share that with another person, a total stranger. 

How grateful I am to have had this moment to be a part of their conversation, even if I hadn't spoken a word. I was a witness and a participant in this rare encounter between these two people. I finished my lunch as I watched the young man stand and give a nod with a smile to the woman. She returned the smile and waved goodbye. I got up from my table to leave and decided to stop and ask her if the visit between her the young man had been planned.  By her expression of great irritation to my question, her face clearly annoyed by my impolite approach. She raised her eyebrows and looked at me with slight anger.  I see now as I write this, how rude of me it was to question her.  I was so enthralled by the fact that her conversation with this young man even happened in the first place that I was compelled  to find an answer.  I quickly told her that I watched from across the room and how utterly amazed at the kindness I saw in their conversation.  In a blink her expression changed from one of anger to one of joy. She smiled at me and replied, 'Thank you". 

 This entire story, I believe, should be one of mere everyday  circumstances, not of uncommon and unlikely events. We would live in a world of bliss if the encounter of these two strangers was 'boring' to see. The ripple effect of events in our lives, good or bad, is in motion every minute of every day. His or her initial  comment to the other started a ripple that led me to approach her with a kind word of what I had seen.  How I passed that ripple on was not evident to me, but I am sure it was felt by someone who passed a kind word on to someone else. It matters most that the kindness is in constant motion, moving from one person to the next. Let's keep that kindness in motion.